Daily parking rate to drop at science center lot
This is no April Fools’ joke. Starting April 1, the daily parking rate at the Carnegie Science Center’s 450-space parking lot is actually dropping — from $9 to $6.
The cut in the rate will make the lot next to the Allegheny light rail transit station the least expensive on the North Shore, where daily rates range from $8 to $10 on nonevent days.
Alco Parking, which operates most of the other lots and garages on the North Shore, recently was awarded the contract to handle the science center space. It took over March 1.
The rate was cut in order to attract commuters returning to the office after working mainly from home during the past two years because of the pandemic, Alco President Merrill Stabile said.
“We feel from what we’re observing throughout the city that this is a time to entice some of the returning workforce,” he said. “We know people are rechecking their budgets and we’re hoping this might be an appealing option for them.”
The $6 daily rate will remain in place for at least a year, Mr. Stabile said.
In addition, the monthly lease rate will drop from $140 to $100.
For those visiting the science center, the parking rate is $5 after 9:30 a.m. each day.
Mr. Stabile noted that most office employees start before that time, although he acknowledged that there is nothing to prevent those who work later from taking advantage of the even lower rate.
Last August, the science center won the right from the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment to continue to use the lot for parking until April 2026.
Before the ruling, a 2016 variance had given the center the ability to use it for parking until April 2024.
The variance was needed because the zoning code at that time limited surface parking in that area to 150 spaces. To go beyond that, structured parking was required. That restriction has since been reduced to 75 spaces.